


Reckoning

by gogoldie



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mortal, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/M, M/M, Violence, Zombie Apocalypse, lots of deaths, strong language? I don't know if you think it's an issue but would rather be safe and point it out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-24 15:00:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8376559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gogoldie/pseuds/gogoldie
Summary: In a final attempt to save humanity, able countries send a next generation expert in either combat or medical microbiology, as well as reconstruction, to hopefully rid the world of the dreaded zombie virus and lead the nations in a new generation to make a stronger tomorrow. When the world around them crumbles and government ability to support is lost, these experts have to divide themselves into two groups: the solving squad and the protection and killing squad who must do all they can to not only defend the solving team while they search for an answer and fight off any major breakouts, but also fight their inner needs to pursue their priorities and even possibly, each other.





	1. The Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own anything, just putting that out there in case.  
> I am actually not huge on mortal or even general AUs for this fandom, so this is new and exciting for me. There are lots of characters that I am trying to work with, so please be gentle with me if I do not give equal attention to each character constantly; however, feel free to tell me if you think a character is seriously neglected and needs more love, and I will look into it to see what I can do. I am trying to understand the ways of the military, so don't be harsh if I got something wrong, just kindly let me know, and I will try to fix it as quickly as possible. I have never seen the Walking Dead, so if that is what you are after in this story, I do not know how to help you and am sorry if they somehow overlap. I am excited to start and hopefully finish this story. It is so easy to start projects but finishing them is an entirely different story. Oh, and two last things that are pointed out in the info and tags.  
> 1.) If you are not cool with gay ships, you probably shouldn't read this story.  
> 2.) If you are not cool with characters dying, you will most-likely want to leave... or you can stay and cry about it with me because it also breaks my heart.  
> I doubt you read this far into this super long notes section, but if you did, thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this story as much as I find it fascinating. Comments are welcome, but be kind. That's all I ask. There is so much negativity in the world; let's not add to it here.

  “The nations are coming together in a final attempt to solve this crisis. The foremost experts of any country able to transport have sent the best of the best from the next generation. All are quite young in the hope that they can outlive this crisis and be leaders of the eminent new era. America is sending its own candidate, Brigadier General Alfred F. Jones who-”

  The radio shut off with a violent slam of the power button.

  “Well, enough of that nonsense. I don’t want to hear about what they think I’ve done or am going to do. The news never knows what’s going on. They didn’t even get my rank right,” Alfred declared with far too much bitterness. 

  “Well, you just got promoted and at least you have the rank. Besides, do you actually want the world to know what exactly is going on?” Matthew asked, in an attempt to hopefully placate Alfred. 

  “No, I suppose you’re right. That would be bad if they knew everything. I guess I’m just a bit uptight. There’s a lot coming, and now I am responsible for a country.” 

  His face went into a sour expression as he started to think about what his plans would be from here.

  “General of the Army is a big responsibility, but at least you didn’t have to keep working your ass off to earn three more stars.” 

  “Ha ha I guess you’re right, Mattie. I just have to make sure that I don’t let the country down. It’s my job to ensure everyone’s safety now.”

  Matthew always knew how to cheer Alfred up, thought Alfred would never admit it to him. 

  “I believe in you” Matthew replied with a gentle smile. “At the end of the day, I know you will do exactly what you always do, be the hero.” 

  At this, Alfred couldn’t help but grin at the compliment. It really did give him hope and lift his spirits for the future.

  “Thanks, bro. It really does mean a lot.” 

  They were not big on compliments, but now was as good a time as any to let the other know that they cared. Who knew if they would get the chance again.

  “And you know, I think you’ll do a pretty great job of helping to solve this whole thing and get us back to normal.”

  The two brothers smiled back at each other in comfortable silence for a moment when the plane suddenly jerked in a burst of strong winds. In that moment, they were brought back to reality and resumed their faces of worry and concentration. The situation had rapidly gotten worse. The zombie virus was finally in America, and they had to find a way to stop it from not just spreading but stop it entirely and obliterate it before it ended humanity. The day of reckoning was about to dawn. 

  “We’ll make contact in 10, General.”

  Alfred scowled at the new development.  _ It is too soon. _

  “Roger that. Carry on, Sergeant.” 

  Alfred liked Japan, but this was no pleasure trip while on leave. This was a trip to the only place left that was safe and allowed a quick escape. Zombies could not swim, and the Japanese government had disposed of the few zombie cases that broke out, as well as any in contact with them; they were thorough.

  Alfred and Matthew proceeded to clean up all of their papers and files that had been strewn about the passenger compartment and got ready to disembark. When the plane finally landed, Alfred’s worrying scowl had been replaced with his usual expression of confidence and determination. He looked the picture of one in complete power, the perfect general. Meanwhile, Matthew put on a gentle smile to look as hopeful of the future as the people would want to see. 

  The brothers disembarked and were met with hundreds of soldiers flanking them on either side, saluting the newly arrived general. Both brothers knew that this was a protected facility to no way to get in without clearance, but it was eerily silent; it almost made Alfred shiver. When they got inside, they were met by a soldier who had been awaiting their arrival.

  “Sir, the other representatives are congregated in the West Hall. They would like the both of you to report their immediately. I am to be your guide.” 

  “Alright, lead the way.” 

  They walked down a large, sleek hall in silence with only the persistent clank of boots to fill the emptiness. When they finally reached the end of the hall, Alfred and Matthew uttered the necessary password, took one final of peace, and proceeded through to the hall. 

  It had begun. The day of reckoning had finally dawned. 


	2. Interruptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred and Matthew arrive at the meeting and are being walked through a presentation when Alfred just has to open his mouth and add in his opinion. This is not shocking, but what is actually shocking is what or who follows immediately after to support him. Alfred is now saddled with the responsibility to assemble a task force to extract evidence from the apocalypse all began, but first, he has to deal with the issue of staying somewhere too nice. How does that work...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter moves pretty slow and so will the next, sorry :(, but I feel these are important things to get out of the way before the true adventure gets going so there will be a logical flow of events. I myself really just want to see Tino and Elizabeta go out and kill zombies together, but I guess I have to wait.  
> The individual votes may seem unnecessary, and I was a bit worried about that, but I ended up feeling that it was a nice way to show how all of the people differ in personalities and even just introduce everyone without being like "Hi, my name is..., and I am from..."  
> Anyways, I hope you like it!  
> PS: Sorry if you really care about titles. Those are a weakness of mine.

  Everyone in the room was staring when they entered. There were twelve people, each with grim expressions, seated around a conference table arranged for fourteen. After a moment of recognition, each member stood to welcome in the two brothers. A tall man with slicked back blond hair and another shorter man with longer, well-kept black hair were the ones to approach. Alfred recognized both of them from his briefing packet, but he knew he had also seen the blond man on previous business.

  “Welcome to Japan, General Jones and Mr. Williams. I am sorry that it has to be in these circumstances. I am sure your presence and input will be most welcome.”

 _He’s right about awful circumstances alright_ , thought Alfred.

 “It is no problem, Dr. Kiku Honda. I’m sure we can wrap this problem up quickly with everyone’s help here today,” Alfred replied with a confident grin.

  He wasn’t sure if he believed what he had said, but Alfred knew he had to be the strong one to keep the morale high and the others motivated.

  “Let us all hope so. We must be positive when considering the future. I am glad you are so full of confidence on the matter.”

  Clearly, Kiku was not so keen to believe the statement either, but at least he came off confident, Alfred thought.  

  “General Jones, it is good to see you here. I must congratulate you on your promotion and say that I am glad they picked you for the job. Let’s just hope that we can pull together and stop this before it gets too bad.”

  Alfred knew General Beilschmidt; they had met together on the battlefield and global meetings. Looking at his uniform, Alfred could tell that he too had his recent promotion.

  “Thank you, General. I see you also got a promotion, so congrats to you as well. With all of us here, we’re sure to get this problem taken care of.”  

  “Yes, thank you. I hope we can make that happen. There are places set for you and Mr. Williams, so let’s take a seat and get down to the issues.”

  Matthew was surprised to be mentioned. Everyone had mainly been addressing Alfred until this point, so he almost thought that they had forgotten he was there at all.

Kiku took his place at one head of the table, as the host of the conference, with Ludwig directly to his right, while Alfred found his place at the other end of the table and Matthew directly to his right. Alfred looked around at all of the faces at the table to try and pair each face with a file he had read. He recognized a general from Finland and figured he was sitting next to the other representatives from the Nordic countries Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, there was the Sergeant he read about from Australia, and _him_. It was the new Marshal of the Russian Federation, which Alfred knew would most-likely attend the meeting, but prayed to God he wouldn’t. He was seated on the opposite side of the table on Kiku’s left. Looking away immediately, in an attempt to not catch his eye, Alfred clenched his fists and tried his hardest to keep a scowl off of his currently cool expression.

   _God have mercy on us all._   

  “Thank you all for coming to this conference. Now that we are all here, we can officially begin. I am sure each of you have something to report about your country, but please wait until the end to comment specifically about your country’s affairs. We must stick to the subject matter if we are to make it through this conference successfully. First, we will discuss what we are up against and how to combat it. Then, we will discuss large outbreaks and current destruction. After that, we can go through individual nation’s cases.”

_Wasn’t this all already in the packet? I mean I didn’t read it all, but I’m not here to cure it. I’m here for how to kill these damn things and get the world back on track._

  “We don’t know what exactly we are dealing with, but we do know that it originated in war zones from the most recent conflict, specifically Syria, which was the first, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan in the Middle Eastern region and the Baltics, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia a little later. The current understanding is that the conditions of these affected areas served as a breeding ground for a new bacteria, that has now been able to live and breed in its host, the human being.This infection, for lack of a better term, seems to be eating away at the brain which causes incorrect mental signals to be sent, making people act as if dead until threatened into primal behavior, thus causing the victim to attack other human beings and appear out of control. The bacteria must be-

_Appear out of control? I’ve seen the footage of what these beasts have done. They are way past control._

 “We have tried to analyze victims which have all been procured posthumously and often not complete, but under our rigorous observation, we have found no visible deterioration of the brain and no uncommon bacteria. We have not been able to go to the sites of origin to know for sure, but we belie-”

  “Hold on,” Alfred interrupted as he stood up. “So basically, this is the zombie apocalypse? And we don’t know anything about it at all?”

  The others, previously looking surprised by Alfred’s bold disruption, now looked over to Kiku to see how he would respond.

  “Well, I don’t know if we could call it that but-”

 “You said these things are acting as if they are dead until they attack? And they attack other people? Those are zombies. We can’t just call this an infection. It’s way beyond those simple medical terms. And there is a chance we could know more if we go to the original sites? Is anyone on that?”

  “Um, not currently. It is far too dangerous to send a task force to those places at this time when every country is focusing on their own national containment.”

  Alfred was going to burst. _They couldn’t even admit that this was the zombie apocalypse? And no one was going to where it started in order to get to the bottom of this. Well shit, how else were they supposed to know how it all began? Haven't these people ever seen an apocalypse movie? Even movie writers knew that was essential to saving the day._    

  “I think that that should be the priority of this committee then. We have to get to the bottom, or the beginning, of this issue.”

   Nobody knew how to respond. Did they interrupt to respond to this? To agree or disagree? What did they do now? The rest of the members looked back over at Kiku to see how he would respond, when someone unexpected broke the silence instead.

  “I agree with General Jones,” the lilting, calm voice proclaimed.

  Now every head snapped to Kiku’s immediate left to acknowledge what had just happened. Everyone, especially Alfred, was unsure if they had actually heard him speak or if they made it up in their minds, but were confirmed when he spoke again.

  “I also think we need to go right to the source of the problem to figure this out. We do want to solve this issue, да? Well, I am sure the answers we need all lie there, in the Middle East, where it all began.”

  “I- I guess I can see your point. Perhaps we should take a vote first, so we can see if that is the wish of the entire committee. Who is in favor of assembling a task force to extract evidence from the origin site? We will go down the line.”

  After looking around at each other, each representative took turns voting.

  “Russia says yes.”

  “Belarus says yes.”

  “Vietnam says yes.”

  “Hungary says yes!”

  “Netherlands says no.”

  “Canada says yes.”

  “America says hell yeah!”

  “Australia says no.”

  “Finland says yes!”

  “Sweden says yes.”

  “Norway says no…”

  “Denmark says yes.”

  “Germany says no”

  At that, Alfred looked over at Ludwig to confirm what he said. He looked worried but resolute about the issue. _He doesn’t want a task force for this? What is he thinking?_

  Kiku voted no for Japan, but with nine out of fourteen votes, they already had a majority vote to create a team.

  “I guess it is decided… We are going to assemble a task force to secure evidence from an origin site. America, I believe since you proposed the idea that you should head the project.”

  The resignation in Kiku’s voice was unmistakable. He worried about the effectiveness and outcome of this idea, but knew he had to let the American general do as he pleased now.

  “Alright, great! I will get right to it. We should have a team out there and evidence back in no time-”

  “Okay, General Jones, but before you start planning at this moment, we should probably let Doctor Honda finish his presentation. It may help the task force if we know all of the details before we send them out” Ludwig pressed.

  The presentation continued and finished as planned with no more interruptions, but each representative had worries, questions, and topics swirling in their mind for the next time they would gather to discuss the next day. Now, it was time to find the lodgings they would be staying in for the entirety of the conference and secure documents before meetings again for dinner.  

  It was a very nice hotel. It was meant for housing executives when they came to visit, since the facility was made for a medical research company. It was just too much for Alfred and many of the other representatives who had spent time in conflict. Sure, generals got the nicest accommodations, so Alfred had stayed in some beautiful inns, but this felt wrong. They were in war, and this was not where one stayed in war. A barrack or private quarters in a compound, even a tent, felt better suited to the situation in Alfred’s mind. He felt like he should be out in the fray fighting among his men to take down the enemy zombies rather than staying safe in Japan, away from the action, going to some fancy dinner to have small talk with other people who could be out stopping zombies too. But, he had duties, and he pledged to do all he could to protect his country, so he would remain here and go to the dinners or whatever else they had on their mapped out schedule if that’s what it required.


	3. Proposition: Operation X-Men Origins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a week of intense planning, Alfred has come forward with his plan to procure the evidence they need. He's going to go get it! Yes, he's have some skilled soldiers with him, but the important thing is that he is going to be there. He guarantees the plan will work... just like the Japanese guaranteed that they had disposed of all zombies properly. A horde is in Tokyo, possibly on its way to the representatives, and no soldiers have been able to stop it so far. SO, Alfred suggests that they go kill them. They are the experts after all, and they do need a live zombie to analyze, so hey why not? He asks for and gets volunteers from the representatives to go with him, but not before some are held back by their loved ones who are concerned about having their lives as collateral (this is where I hope I have cute SuFin and DenNor, but we'll see). Let the zombie-killing almost commence!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to do some cute SuFin and DenNor stuff, but I'm not a cute, fluffy person and am not sure if I'm actually a good writer, so I'm not sure. I guess you will have to judge and see. Hopefully it's in character. Wow, lots of names and different things to remember like titles and such. I see why having military AU stuff can be difficult with those aspects. I hope this is good and not too boring! Feel free to comment :)
> 
> As always, I do not own any of the characters from Hetalia or X-Men.

  Nobody was late to the meeting or any meeting, in fact, most everyone had arrived early. Each person was eager to make progress. They still knew next to nothing about the whole situation except that it was critical, and they had spent a week in Japan already. They had to start making plans.    

  “Currently, Japan is the only major safe hold without zombies. However, we have an obligation from the United Nations to specifically clear out and reclaim the United Kingdom.”

  There were a few murmurs in the room about the United Kingdom always thinking it is above the other European countries and how they shouldn’t have left the European Union if they wanted these countries to help, but it quickly quieted down.

  “It is important that we fulfill this task. We need as many isolated countries that these vict- zombies cannot get to. We know for a fact that they cannot swim, so they could not get to the United Kingdom if we get rid of all of the current cases. This will be the place where many can flee for safety from their own countries or even grow new crops to supply others as humanitarian and safety needs deem necessary.”

  One or two people grumbled, but everyone saw the logic and agreed.

  “Now, we will have to plan that out tomorrow, so if you have something to say, you may bring it up then. General Jones has stated that he has completed his plan for assembling the origin evidence task force, so he will now be presenting that to us.”

  With a big, confident smile on his face and a momentary shiver no one could see, Alfred walked over to the other side of the table and took the clicker from Kiku.

  “Alright everybody, I have a plan that you are all going to love. You said you haven’t been able to get the evidence before, but I promise that we can get it with this. Welcome to Operation X-Men Origin!” Alfred explained, bursting with pride at his clever title. Sure, he was a four-star General and was serious when needed, but deep down, Alfred was still a kid who loved his superheroes or action movies when time permitted.

  Nobody could be heard laughing, but you could see amusement in some people’s eyes. The Australian Sergeant Ralph smirked, and Danish General Mathias nearly laughed he was smiling so wide.

  “I propose that we hand pick a task force of experts to go into Damascus, Syria to not only the first zombie’s old home, but also where they are buried. And, I will be the leader.”

  There were audible responses to this. _How could he be going there? Him? How is this even going to work?_   

  “Now hear me out, I have spent a significant amount of time in Syria and Damascus specifically. I know these places, and I can guarantee that I will get this team in and out. I just need willing and able members who can fill the roles I know I will need to-”

  The door crashed open, and a young soldier burst through, out of breath and swearing quietly in Japanese.

  “Sir, the-they’re here! We have zombies here!”

  A couple of people shot out of their chairs. _Here? I thought they said this was a safe place? That they were thorough._

Alfred and Ludwig responded before Kiku even had a chance.

  “How close and how many?”

  “About 20. We tried to shoot them down and thought we could handle it, but it has gotten worse. The more we fight them and miss, the more aggressive they get. They are about 30 kilometers from here.”

  There were some panicked voices, some calm voices, and a few people just sitting in silence as they waited to know what they were going to do.

  “Well, alright. Generals, representatives,” Alfred was actually smiling. “It looks like it is up to us.”

  “Are you crazy?” Ludwig sputtered.

  Smiling even wider, Alfred continued “No, of course not. We need to know what exactly these things are like if we are going to stop them, don’t we? Well, this is our chance. I bet we can even get that live specimen you said you needed to figure out what’s going on inside of those monsters. I know I’m going. Who’s going with me?”

  “Fuck yeah! I’m coming too!”

  On the opposite end of the table, Major General Tino Väinämöinen jumped out of his chair, unable to contain his excitement.

  Realizing people were staring at him in surprise, Tino tried to lighten the situation. “Oh, excuse my language. I am going with you, General Jones!”

  There were many little discussions among the representatives, and out of the corner of his eye, Alfred saw Tino’s arm being held back by the Swedish representative Berwald Oxenstierna. He strained to listen but was then distracted by another enthusiastic response from Hungarian Lieutenant General Elizabeta Héderváry.

\---

  “You can't go with them. It’s too dangerous. If you go, I’m coming too.”

  Tino was a bit flustered but tried his best to brush it off.

  “You know I have to go with them; they need me, and they need you here too. I won’t get hurt. I’m too good to get killed by some dead people, aren't I? Besides, you know I've been itching to get back to the field and see some action.”

  Berwald still did not let up on Tino’s arm, even though he knew all of this to be true. He was not so quick to let his “wife” go off to war.

  “Berwald, please. I have to go. I promise I’ll come back to you and-”

  “Berwald, it’s no problem! I’ll take care of him out there,” Mathias proclaimed. “I’m coming too! Let’s beat these zombies!” he shouted over to Alfred and received an invigorated “hell yeah!” back.

  Berwald let go of Tino’s arm, but now it was Norwegian Lukas Bondevik’s turn to panic.

  “You what?!” It was quiet, but he spit out the question like venom.

  “Yeah… I gotta go out there and protect Tino’s back! We wouldn’t want Berwald to worry or Tino to be in danger, so I’m going out there to keep an eye on him as we kick some zombie ass!”

  “You are such an idiot. You are going to get yourself killed, or Tino is going to have to save you instead.”

  Mathias smirked. “Are- are you actually concerned for me right now? Am I sensing some worry? I knew you cared about my safety!” he almost bubbled over.

  Trying to remain calm and recompose himself, Lukas stated, “No. I am just trying to keep you alive. I think they need as many representatives alive as possible, and what kind of person would I be if I just let someone die unnecessarily? They might blame it on me if you die, that’s all.”

  “Ha ha alright, but are you sure you aren’t just trying to keep me alive because you need me? If not even for the love, then for the sex? I’m pretty sure you told me just last week that you’ve never had better sex with anyone else, so-”

  Lukas hit him on the head with his binder of documents.

  “Ouch! Geez Norge-”

  “You know damn well _you_ said that about me, and if I can hurt you with a binder, you aren’t going to be of any use on the battlefield.”

  Trying a different strategy, Mathias got out of his chair and tightly held both of Lukas’s hands as he made one final plea.

  “Norge, I love you, and I know you are trying to look out for me, but we both know I have to go do this; it’s for both of us. If I can stop zombies from getting here, we can get to the bottom of this problem and save the world. We can save people like Emil.”

  At the mention of the name, Lukas let go of Mathias’s hands and stared blankly at his lap. Before he could have the chance to retort, Mathias kissed his cheek and caught up to Tino and the others who were off to stop the horde.     

\--- 

  Alfred now had six people to go with to fight the horde of zombies. He was actually excited. He was going to fight zombies with some of the best soldiers in the world; it was like a zombie fighting dream come true. The representatives from Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Australia, and _those two_ (Russia and Belarus) all volunteered to come with him. Some were more excited than others, and Alfred was more excited about some more than others, but he knew he could find a way to make this work. Matthew suggested he go as well, but there was no way Alfred was letting that happen. He couldn’t just throw his best friend out there because he was going out there.

  “I can go along too. Do you need another soldier on the field?” Ludwig asked. He didn’t want to go, but knew it was his duty to fight wherever it may be needed.

  “Nah, General, you are good. Just keep an eye on these brainiac doctors or whatever and hold down the fort while I’m gone” Alfred responded with a playful wink.

  “Alright, team, we’ll suit up and rendezvous at the choppers, where I’ll give you divisions, in 10 minutes. Let’s go kick some zombie ass!”


	4. The First Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The representatives finally get a chance to fight some zombies! Huzzah, the story is finally moving (at least in my mind)!
> 
> Comment if you liked it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, woohoo!  
> Hopefully things will start picking up now.

  “Major General Väinämöinen, Lieutenant General Héderváry, Sergeant Smith, and Marshal Braginsky, you four will snipe from the back o-” 

  With a bright smile on his face, Ivan came forward to change the command.

  “Actually, General Jones, I am going to be part of the frontline with the rest of you.” 

  Alfred did all he could to keep himself from bursting. He knew Ivan was trying to test him. 

  “W-what?”

  “You heard me. I am going to fight up front with the rest of you. Is that a problem? I hope you haven’t forgotten that my rank is just as high as yours.” 

  The others looked around uncomfortably, unsure of what to do.

  “That’s just  _ fine _ with me! Don’t  _ you _ forget we have the same level rank and that  _ I _ have been put in charge of the offensive strategy of this committee.” 

  “I am sure you will be constantly be reminding us of the fact, so I won’t have to. I got what I needed.”

  Still smiling, Ivan went back to his place and waited with the others who were all trying not to stare. 

  “Alright then, you three will be in the back. The rest of you, you will be upfront with me.”

  When they landed, they were expecting a loud, brutal attack, but it was quiet. Believing they may have arrived too late, they all got out of the copter to take a look. Walking right past a soldier who came to greet them, they walked to the front of the defensive barrier and were met with the site of scattered bodies and destroyed buildings. The 20 zombies the soldier described earlier must have been killed before they got here.

  “Did you kill all of them?” Alfred asked impatiently.

  “No, sir. Well, we killed the original set, but there are more on the way.” 

  Alfred ripped a pair of binoculars off of a soldier's neck and took a look. At least 40 zombies were heading directly towards them.  

  They weren’t the decaying, blood-soaked carcasses they had been expecting; they looked almost human. That was more terrifying. They looked just like normal civilians. That’s probably how they stayed hidden until now. The only thing that separated these creatures from human beings was how they walked. When they moved, it was as if the zombies were dragging their bodies along with them.

  “Alright, everybody get to your places. Snipers go above and take down as many as you can before they get here, but wait for my call. You 20 men, stay at the front of the barrier and stop any of these damn zombies from getting in. The rest of us are going on the field.” 

  No one questioned any of the orders or logic. They were all soldiers. This is what they did, risk their lives and follow orders. They weren’t here to protect themselves. 

  “Oh, and representatives, turn on your earpieces. We need to stay updated, and I’m sure the others at the meeting are desperate to know what’s going on here. Now let’s kill these fucking zombies!” 

  Alfred, Ivan, Natalya, Mathias, and the appointed 30 soldiers climbed down the barrier and went out onto the field. Looking closely at the bodies, it was apparent that despite their normal appearance from afar, these carcasses were no longer human. Up close, the blood red eyes, browning skin, and bleeding mouths could be seen. There were dead soldiers on the field as well, some in the hands of zombies who were in the process of mutilating their prey before they died. It was like looking into a lion’s den after an attack.

  “Generals, we have no time for formality, and many of us have similar titles or names, so we are just going to go by country names, got it?” 

  Through the intercom, each of the representatives fighting gave their words of assent. 

  “Good. Denmark, you and I have most of the grenades, so we will go ahead and throw some after the snipers have their big entrance. After that, we will fall back into line with the others and join the formation. Russia, Belarus, since you two have blades in addition to guns, you will go in the center. Wait with the other troops and then join in when Denmark and I come back to the formation.” 

  Ready to finally start the action, Alfred made the call. 

  “Alright snipers, take the shot.” 

  Immediately when the first shots were taken, the zombies went into a blind rage charging towards the forces. It was incredible how fast they could run compared to the way they were initially walking. They may be able to run faster than any of the generals or soldiers on the field. Everyone had been told about the amazing abilities of the zombies, but no one who has not personally faced them in the past was shocked. This wasn’t something a person could explain in a pretty presentation.

\---

  If anyone on the field could listen to the intercom over their own orders and the guttural growl of the encroaching zombies, they might have been entertained. Tino was gleefully talking away to Elizabeta as they waited in their positions.

  “Well, this shouldn’t take to long, right? They move so slowly, we should have this wrapped up pretty soon here. I mean, how fast can they really get?” he said with a bounce in his voice until he saw the zombies speeding after the attack. “Holy fuck! This just got interesting! I change my mind, this is a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be! Watch out mother fucking zombies! Oo, that one actually got away from a bullet, amazing! I’m up for a challenge! It is really too bad I don’t have my music with me,” Tino was practically singing with joy.

  He and Elizabeta were both laughing to themselves about how fun this was going to be and how nice it was to be back on the field while Ralph just tried to focus on his target and not stare at them. 

\---

  “Grenade team, go!”  

  Right away the grenade team, including Alfred and Mathias, ran forward and threw two rounds of grenades as fast as possible before retreating back to the other soldiers. 

  “Alright, field team, let’s go! Shoot them in the head” Alfred shouted.

  He knew, not only from the presentations, but also from common zombie knowledge, that they had to be shot in the head to be truly successful. Curious, he shot a zombie in the heart and wondered if that would do the trick as well. The zombie fell to the ground only to get up and run twice as fast at Alfred. 

  “What the fuck?!” Alfred stuttered. 

  He thought the zombie might rise again, but that it would be slowed down by the shot. He did not think it would become more powerful with each unsuccessful blow. Now he understood why the soldiers had such a difficult time originally. 

  Before it got too close, Alfred shot the zombie again, this time shooting it in the center of its forehead. 

  Speaking both into his piece and to the soldier, he warned, “Everyone, you have to shoot them in the head! I don’t give a damn if you think other shots will slow them down, shoot them in the head!” 

  As some zombies fell and others increased their speed of approach, Alfred did not realize that he was backed by Ivan. 

  “So I see you finally figured out the real problem. If you actually payed attention to the presentation or had actually fought them in your home country, I bet it wouldn’t have taken you this long” Ivan stated from behind before moving to the side and shooting more zombies.

  Alfred was irritated but didn’t have time to retort or even be distracted by feeling mad. He just had to make sure they killed all of the zombies before they reached the barrier. 

  “Denmark, how you doing over there?” 

  “Oh just fine! Just killing some zombies! I thought I would be stuck in that boring meeting for another week, so this is great!” Alfred could hear the smile in Mathias’s voice as he spoke. 

  “Glad to hear it! I don’t know how the crew back at the meeting, who can hear all of this, feels when you say that though haha.” 

 “Oh yeah… Sorry! Hasn’t been my job to sit around all day, so I’m not used to it.” 

  Having been stuck in wars for the past five years, nobody was really used to the idea of sitting around anymore. All of these generals and officers had to be out on the field fighting alongside their men. 

  Natalya was the most aggressive in her tactic. She would run up to the zombies and stab them in the head or shoot from close-range before it was truly needed, often going in front of Ivan and taking the attacks he would have had.

  It was a difficult battle, but these were some of the finest soldiers and marksmen in the world, also accompanied by a small army; they would need a bigger challenge than this to kill them. 

  After about two hours, they were finally finishing off the last few zombies with only three casualties; the mission was going to be a full success. Seeing the last two zombies go down, the soldiers started to head back to the barrier while the representatives on the field scattered to ensure each zombie had been killed properly. Alfred was about to ask everyone if their inspections were complete when he was interrupted by Mathias. 

  “The last one killed wasn’t killed with a headshot, but it’s not moving. I don’t th-” 

  Mathias was cut off by the zombie immediately springing to its knees and biting him in the torso. He growled in pain and shot the zombie in the head before it had a chance to move on. 

  “Mathias!! Tino shrieked before jumping from his post and running over to his friend with the representatives from the field. Elizabeta tried to stop him, but he ran away before she could catch him. 

  “Oh God” Alfred whispered to himself. 

  Mathias was lying in a pool of blood, breathing heavily and holding his side as he grumbled in pain. 

  Natalya pulled out her gun and put it to Mathias’s head. 

  By this point, Tino had reached the group and now pulled out his gun and pointed it to Natalya. 

  “Drop the gun! Don’t you dare shoot him! I am commanding you as your superior” Tino shouted. 

  Not yielding, Natalya remained in her position. 

  “He is going to turn into a zombie. Do you want that to happen? He will try to kill us all if that is the case” she responded while remaining calm. 

  Knowing he had to intervene, Alfred began to speak. 

  “Both of you! Put your guns down. Let him see his friend.” 

  Reluctantly, both complied, and Tino burst through the group over to Mathias, not caring that he was sitting in his blood. 

  “My brother, I am so sorry! I didn’t protect you. We will get-” 

  Putting a hand up to quiet him, Mathias spoke slowly, his eyes gradually getting more and more distant. 

  “Like I told Berwald, I came to protect you. You know this is part of the job. It was an honor to serve alongside you and the others here.” 

  Coughing up blood, Mathias could not speak for a moment. When it seemed he was finally letting go, he shot back up and looked straight into Tino’s eyes. 

  “Tino, would- would you tell Lukas that I love him, and I am so-so sorry. He is going to be so angry with me for doing this to him. He might kill me again” Mathias said with a little, painful laugh and melancholy smile. After a moment, he was gone. 

  “Okay, you can do it now. I don’t want to see him wake as a zombie.” 

  Natalya pulled the trigger, and everyone just stood in silence for a moment. Knowing they had to move on, the representatives made their way back to the barrier and then the base in somber silence.

  So much for a complete success.       

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww no not Denmark!! That kills me inside, but you've gotta have high stakes and casualties in a story like this.  
> I was happy that I found a way to call them by their country names.


End file.
